Handling mean tweets (a case study)

N.B. – A graduate student who specializes in media studies asks six questions about the so-called mean tweets of Teodoro “Teddyboy” Locsin, Jr., a former journalist who is now Ambassador to the United Nations. Here are my answers.

Teddyboy Locsin Jr. encountered flak from his negative, tasteless, and inappropriate tweets about De Lima, the Filipino language, and the Nazis last year. Given this scenario, what is your comment on how he conducted himself online, especially that he is a media practitioner and public servant?

The way he writes in print and talks on television shows that he is sarcastic and his humor is usually sardonic. While his tweets may be argued as such – and I understand he said this in his defense – there is always an inherent danger in misinterpreting a point expressed in 140 characters or fewer. As a journalist, he should always keep in mind the normative standards of journalism, particularly the point about comporting himself in public in a way that will not damage the profession. As a government official, he should all the more be careful of how he projects himself in social media. After all, he’s not just representing himself but the entire country.

How will you reconcile free speech with his conduct online?

His conduct online, no matter how uncouth it appears, is definitely covered by the basic freedoms of speech and of expression. But that does not prevent people from criticizing him for being irresponsible in the way he exercises the freedom that our ancestors fought so hard for.

Does privilege have to do with his unethical conduct? Is apologizing enough to cover such “mean” tweets?

One may argue that Locsin’s class status reflects in his “mean tweets.” Taken at face value, they show a sense of entitlement where an aristocrat is telling the hoi polloi how stupid they are. While apologizing could help assuage those who felt offended by his tweets, his apology should not just be a retraction but also a clear explanation of what he’ll do to make sure that he won’t issue mean tweets anymore. A clear resolve to review journalism ethics would be a good start, for example.

What do you think are the most important social media guidelines for media practitioners?

I recommend Knight & Cook’s Social Media for Journalists published by Sage in 2013. Even if it needs some updating, the Blogger’s Code of Ethics by Cyberjournalist.net issued in 2003 is also a useful reference. I firmly believe that the various codes of ethics in journalism (SPJ, PPI, PDI, ABS-CBN, Sun.Star) could be used as general guidelines in social media by journalists and other citizens.

Do you think that public and private social media personas are separate form one another? Why or why not?

If by public persona you refer to the social media “influencers” (i.e., those who have substantial following and whose posts get a lot of engagement), it may be argued that the pressure to be more responsible rests on them compared to the non-influencers (if this is what you mean by private personas). However, all social media users should exercise responsibility in the way they conduct themselves online.

As a social media critic and professor, what do you do when you encounter “mean” tweets online?

It depends on the contents of the “mean” tweets. If they’re mean but constructive, I try my best to engage the social media user in a sober and respectful manner. If the tweets tend to engage in cyber-bullying, I take screenshots and use them as case studies in my classes, as well as post them online to discuss journalism and social media ethics. If the “mean” tweet is written by a troll who murders the language and spews nonsense online, I usually just ignore it (though I might also take a screenshot of it for future class discussion).

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